Feb 3, 2023 – Who owes…

 

Black History Month Reflection – Clyde Ross and the Protection of the Law

The Atlantic (US) – Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Case for Reparations:

“Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.”   https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/   Related article: The Marshall Project / Inside Story –    Lawrence Bartley and Donald Washington, Jr.   When Kids Are Punished Like Adults – Louisianans protest temporary youth housing in notorious Angola, and Bryan Stevenson speaks on sentencing reform.   https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/02/02/bryan-stevenson-juvenile-justice-reform?utm_source=email&utm_medium=marketing-email&utm_source=The+Marshall+Project+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ccfa695e78-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_01_31_11_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-ccfa695e78-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D (Cf also link to Youtube (22 min video)  Kids Are Ending Up in the “Alcatraz of the South”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIVftwmE1VM

 

Global News – Simon Little

5 Prince George, B.C. Mounties charged in 2017 death of suspect during arrest

Almost six years ago, Dale Culver, an Indigenous man in Prince George, BC, was arrested and died in custody. “Two officers have been charged with manslaughter, while three others have been charged with attempting to obstruct justice in relation to the July 18, 2017 death of Indigenous man Dale Culver.”    https://globalnews.ca/news/9453032/prince-george-rcmp-charged-arrest-death/  Related article:  Prince George Citizen – Mark Neilsen   Prince George RCMP officers charged with manslaughter – Counts stem from July 2017 death of Dale Culver; three other officers charged with attempting to obstruct justice   https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/prince-george-rcmp-officers-charged-with-manslaughter-6472787   Related article: CBC News  5 Prince George Mounties charged in death of Indigenous man – 4 of the 5 officers remain on active duty, according to RCMP  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prince-george-death-custody-manslaughter-1.6733984

 

The Lawyer’s Daily – John L. Hill

Why is Bordeaux prison video not public?

On Jan 31, In Montreal’s Bordeaux Prison, Nicous D’Andre Spring, a 21-year-old Black man died after being pepper-sprayed while wearing a spit hood by correctional officers.   Hill says the incident is strikingly similar to the most recent incident in Memphis and the glaring difference is that the video tape of this incident has not been release, despite repeated requests.  “The CCLA’s special adviser on anti-Black racism, Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, wants the public to see the footage. He said, “The family and the public urgently deserve answers about what happened to Mr. Spring. We are calling for all video footage to be immediately released.”  https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/criminal/articles/43226?s=03

 

Toronto Star Editorial (Feb 1, 2023)

The high cost of misinformation – Misinformation exacts a heavy price on society. We cannot be complacent or accepting of the “post-truth era”

Using the Covid pandemic as a case in point, the lesson is widely applicable to other events   The editorial concludes:  “Tackling misinformation is not easy, given the vested interests of those who profit off it, either in money or power. Even the act of calling it out is fraught, inviting a barrage of vitriol, harassment, and threats of violence, the report notes.

Yet to not act is to enable even more of its corrosive effects on society, which include a diminished trust in public institutions, declining political participation, and an increasingly toxic communication environment.”  https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2023/02/01/the-high-cost-of-misinformation.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a02&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=404CAADEF7EB839FC77B1B04F0C251E1&utm_campaign=top_164998

 

VERA (US) – Jullian Harris-Calvin, Director, Greater Justice New York and Sam McCann Senior Writer

New Yorkers Can’t Afford Another Year of Death in Our Jails 

In 2021, in Rikers Island Jail (NY), federal monitor called the year the most dangerous since 2015 when federal monitoring and the death toll reached 19.  While the problem of massive absenteeism by Department of Corrections guards was playing out, so were the political machinations to add many more to the number incarcerated.  “The path forward in 2023 is abundantly clear: Rikers needs to be taken over by a court-appointed expert, also known as a federal receiver, in order to address unrestrained absenteeism, bring community-based organizations in to provide services, fix unsafe infrastructure, and facilitate the closure of Rikers before 2027.”  https://www.vera.org/news/new-yorkers-cant-afford-another-year-of-death-in-our-jails?emci=8a3945fa-3b9b-ed11-994c-00224832eb73&emdi=908cd5ad-219c-ed11-994c-00224832eb73&ceid=82378

 

The Intercept – Akela Lacy

What $28 Million Bought the Memphis Police Department – The specialized division that included SCORPION, the anti-crime unit responsible for beating Tyre Nichols.

The Scorpion Unit of the Memphis Police Department was part of a $28 million a year special operations funding – total budget is $278 million or 39% of the city budget – and is, in fact, a type of unit widely imitated across the US.  “The SCORPION unit is what ‘fund the police’ rhetoric looks like in reality,” Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell said in a statement to The Intercept. “Instead of pouring more money into militarized forces that brutalize, terrorize, and even murder, we should fund libraries, after-school programs, good jobs, and other investments proven to keep us safe.”  https://theintercept.com/2023/01/31/tyre-nichols-memphis-police/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter

Tweet from Naheed Dosani: On budget priorities   “So let me get this straight: The City of Toronto has enough resources to add an extra $50 million to the police budget but doesn’t have enough resources to keep warming centres open 24/7 so that unhoused people don’t suffer & freeze to death?  So cruel.”
(https://twitter.com/NaheedD/status/1620783552504922113?t=gFWRMnNW83BuJ-h1A6fUMQ&s=03)

Tweet from Doctors For Defunding Police:  “The Toronto police force has an over $1.2 billion yearly budget that has constantly increased over decades while other social services have been comparably starved.”
(https://twitter.com/DrsDefundPolice/status/1620766246286544898?t=4Z5e8Tv81k0Mzcak36AVIQ&s=03)

 

Tweet from Radley Balko (US) – On alternatives to armed traffic cops   “TIL that in the 2000s, the mayor of Bogotá fired the city’s traffic cops and replaced them with mimes. Instead of fining people who committed infractions, the mimes would mock them. It apparently worked. And somehow, no mimes were murdered.  https://t.co/TBDdSFLJAc
(https://twitter.com/radleybalko/status/1620919935949246465?t=s5bF2M_WKib0h-4HdaqtDg&s=03)

 

Bolt (US) – Jonathan Ben-Menachem

A Police Stop Is Enough to Make Someone Less Likely to Vote – New research shows how the communities that are most heavily policed are pushed away from politics and from having a say in changing policy. 

Just when you may have thought that you had heard it all about the legal system here is a report likely to challenge you.  “Bicycling while Black” is an enforcement strategy in Florida as well as a part of the evidence about what nuisance interactions with police do to the civic sense of duty to participate in democracy.  “These results make clear that the collateral consequences of policing—including worsening outcomes for economic security, educational attainment, and health—also extend to political participation. If the communities who are most frequently subjected to policing are also discouraged from voting as a result, it could create a vicious feedback loop of political withdrawal.” https://boltsmag.org/a-police-stop-is-enough-to-make-someone-less-likely-to-vote/

 

Tweet from Matthew Hahn (US) – On important distinctions:  “How I faced 400 years to life in prison for a third strike, despite having only two, nonviolent felony arrests. A thread.”
(https://twitter.com/hahnscratch/status/1620610558130286594?t=EAd_WvLfsiRfSERFZ1MFbA&s=03)

Tweet from Matt Martens (US) – On jaw-dropping outcome for police corruption:  “Police officer charged with faking evidence of crimes, causing DA to reverse 100s of convictions.  Then, in prosecution of officer, prosecutor fails to turn over evidence to defense, resulting in dismissal of case.  Prosecutor fired. https://t.co/zxaj6Zdoyw
(https://twitter.com/martensmatt1/status/1620538527791419392?t=6j1tdQ3G-nFD92kMseRrMA&s=03)

Tweet from Matthew Hahn (US) – On prison organ harvesting   “Organ harvesting from prisoners in exchange for lessened prison sentences. I don’t know what to say because I’m so utterly floored at the monstrosity of such a thought. https://t.co/lawcysMn7S
(https://twitter.com/hahnscratch/status/1620961836828082176?t=sEehZj0vsLfBfbC67jzwVQ&s=03)  cf The Guardian (UK – US desk) – Erum Salam  Massachusetts prisoners may get shorter sentences for organ donations – A new bill proposes that prisoners get at least two months off their sentences for donating bone marrow or organs    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/01/massachusetts-prisoners-organ-donations

Tweet from RailroadedUnderground (US) – On Re-entry support:  “People returning home from prison feel pressure from Parole, Probation, Transitional Homes, & even family to get jobs & work. If you really want to help, the first few months of a person’s release should be focused on healing from the most traumatizing experience of their lives.”
(https://twitter.com/RailroadUnderg1/status/1620838820261535744?t=Wwj6VulxVTgAzB52vqBjFQ&s=03)

 

Tweet from Garth Mullins – On spokespersons for drug decriminalization:  “Seems obv, but media coverage of decriminalization in BC should feature the criminalized.  Particularly since governments are trying to exclude us. I know journalists gotta quote those ministers but props to all yous who to talk to people who’ve been locked up for drugs.
(https://twitter.com/garthmullins/status/1620523461545443328?t=SwyvE7GJZSNYsPJSflkGlA&s=03)

Tweet from Jessica Hutchison – On creative alternatives to partner violence:  “Police do not prevent or reduce intimate partner violence. For proven, effective anti-carceral intimate partner violence prevention & intervention check out Dr. Mimi Kim’s work. Happy to send articles if you can’t access them.
(https://twitter.com/Jessichutchison/status/1620863895463428096?t=8ZevX1eqJDuvNPmKnlh1og&s=03)   Dr. Mimi Kim:  Cf  https://www.creative-interventions.org/about-the-founder/   cf also Blogger Russell Webster (UK):   Coercive control in domestic violence perpetrator programmes – Nicole Renehan says domestic abuse perpetrator programmes may be less effective in addressing coercively controlling behaviours.    https://www.russellwebster.com/coercive-control-in-domestic-violence-perpetrator-programmes/